Rack for pre-tied neckties



April 30, 1968 w. R. M CLUNEY RACK FOR PRE-TIED NECKTIES Filed Aug. 26, 1965 INVENTOR WPoBEmMficGuA/EY Maw ATTORNEY United States Patent M 3,380,594 RACK FOR PRE-TIED NECKTIES William Robert MacCluney, Rte. 1, Ashland City, Tenn. 37015 Filed Aug. 26, 1965, Ser. No. 482,805 3 Claims. (Cl. 21113) the rods and spaced apart transversely in planes normal to the rods.

This invention relates to a tie-rack, and more particularly to a rack especially designed for supporting a plurality of pre-tied neckties, each necktie being of the type having a pair of wings extending laterally from both sides of the knot.

Although the art is crowded with racks for supporting untied neckties, relatively few necktie racks are designed specifically for, or can be adapted to support, pre-tied neckties of the type having the knot tied about a winged element whose wings extend in opposite transverse directions for insertion beneath the shirt collar, and which also has a hook adapted to engage the top of the collar to suspend the tie.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a necktie rack particularly adapted for supporting or suspending a plurality of the above described pre-tied neckties.

Another object of this invention is to provide a rack for pre-tied neckties having wing supporting rods with stop, spacer or separator members also functioning to reinforce the rods.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rack for preatied neckties having a base and at least two elongated rods projecting parallel and horizontally from the base, each rod having formed thereon a plurality of substantially equally spaced stop members, the stop members also being spaced apart transversely in planes normal to the rods.

A further object of this invention is to provide a rack for pre-tied neckties adapted to be easily combined with accessories to provide additional apparel support.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel support for displaying a tie rack.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention showing a pre-tied necktie with wings, in phantom, supported by the tie rack;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the tie rack shown in FIG. 1, showing additional means for supporting the hooks of the pre-tied tie;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a portion of a rod shown in FIG. 1 supporting an accessory hanger; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a novel supporting member for the tie rack shown in FIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawings in more detail, the tie rack 10, as best disclosed in FIG. 1, includes a base, such as an elongated rectangular fiat board 12. Adjacent the top edge of the board a pair of holes 13 are drilled, or otherwise formed, to receive means such as long nails, screws 3,380,594 ?atented Apr. 30, 1968 or a wire for suspending the base 12 from a fixed support, and preferably at a predetermined height to allow room for the suspended ties to hang freely.

A plurality of rods 14, preferably wooden, of equal length and having a circular cross-section, are mounted to extend parallel to each other in the same direction from the front of the face of the base 12. As disclosed in FIG. 1, the rods 14 are spaced apart at substantially equal intervals, each interval between adjacent rods 14 being less than the span of the wings 16 extending from opposite sides of the knot 17 of the pre-tied tie 18. Thus, the spaced intervals of the rods 14 are critical to the oper-. ation of the invention.

Mounted on each rod 14 are a plurality of stop members or spacers 20 which are also equally spaced longitudinally of each rod 14, the spacing between any two adjacent stop members 20 being greater than the thickness of the wing 16 of the pre-tied tie 18. In order to support a plurality of ties 18 substantially parallel to each other and to the base 12, the stop members 20 are preferably arranged on all the rods 14 in planes which are normal to the rod 14 and equally spaced from each other. In order to support more pre-tied ties 18, the spacing between the stop members should preferably be twice as great as the thickness of the wing 16, so that wings 16 on laterally adjacent ties may overlap and be supported upon the same rod 14 between the same stop members 20.

Although it is only necessary for the stop members 20 to project upwardly in order to separate wings 16 of longitudinally arranged ties 18, the stop members 20 are preferably designed to structurally surround, at least partially, the rods 14 in order to reinforce the rods 14 cantilevered forwardly of the base 12. This is particularly true where the rods 14 are made of materials having elongated fibers, such as wood. Thus, a stop member 20 formed as an annular disc made of metal or plastic surrounding and snugly fitting the wooden rod 14 will hold the fibers together to lend additional support. Not only will these reinforcing stop discs 20 permit rods 14 of additional length, but the reinforcing will also permit wooden rods 14 of smaller diameter.

FIG. 2 additionally discloses an elongated flexible member, such as the continuous elastic band 22, encircling a pair of adjacent rods 14 between transversely aligned stop discs 20. The flexible member 22 provides an additional tie support over which the hook, or pairs of hooks 23 as disclosed in FIG. 2, secured to the backs of the wings 16 and the knot 17, may be suspended. Thus, either the hooks 23 or the wings 16 of the ties 118 may be supported.

FIG. 3 shows a wooden rod 14 into the side of which is inserted a hanger 25 having a stright sharp-pointed shank 26 and an upturned hooked end 27. The sharppointed shank 26 is designed for comparatively easy manual insertion into the wooden rod 14, not only to provide a hanger 25 for other apparel, such as untied ties or belts, but the shank 26 is also designed to provide additional reinforcement by engaging and binding the fibers of the wooden rod 14 together.

FIG. 4 shows a support member 30 for the tie rack 10, especially adapted for displaying the rack 10 for sale. The support member 30 includes a pair of parallel upstanding side members or rails 31 and 32, preferably having flat parallel faces for receiving the back of the base 12, and also being spaced apart less than the length of the base 12. Mounted on the front faces of the rails 31 and 32 by any convenient means, such as eye-bolts 33, are semi-flexible fingers 35 made of any convenient material such as hard rubber. The semi-flexible fingers 35 are supported in the eye-bolts 33 to extend upwardly, and are spaced from the front faces of the rails 31 and 32 sufiiciently to snugly receive and grip the base 12 of 3 the tie rack tightly against the rails 31 and 32; yet the flexibility of the fingers 35 permit ready accessibility for removal of the tie rack 10 from the support member 30.

The support member 30 may be suspended by elongated rods or wires extending through holes 37 formed in an elongated board supported adjacent the top of the rails 31 and 32, but off-set forwardly of the rails. The purpose of the offset construction of the panel 38 is to permit the rails 31 and 32 to assume more of a vertical position as they are loaded by tie racks 12, when the panel 38 is freely suspended.

The tie rack 10 made in accordance with this invention therefore provides a unique rack from which one or more winged pre-tied ties 13 may be suspended neatly and orderly. A plurality of the ties 18 may be arranged in a row longitudinally of a pair of rods 14 and separated from each other. If three or more rods 14 are employed, then several longitudinal, parallel rows of ties 18 may be supported, the adjacent wings 16 of adjacent rows overlapping on a single, common rod 14.

In order to properly support the ties 18 to hang vertically, the base 12 is preferably supported so that the rods 14 lie in a horizontal plane.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A rack for pre-tied neckties, in which each necktie has a pair of wings extending laterally from both sides of the necktie knot, comprising:

(a) a base,

(b) at least two elongated rods fixed to and extending parallel in the same direction from said base,

(c) each adjacent pair of said rods being spaced apart a distance less than the wing span of each necktie,

((1) means for supporting said base so that the plane of said rods is substantially horizontal,

(e) a plurality of distinct stop members formed on 4 each rod, each stop member having an upwardly projecting portion to separate said wings when said wings are transversely spanning and supported on an adjacent pair of said rods,

(f) said stop members being aligned in planes normal to said rods and spaced apart transversely of said rods to permit insertion of said neckties between said rods in a direction parallel to said rods,

(g) said stop members on each rod being spaced apart at substantially equal intervals longitudinally of said rod, each interval being greater than the thickness of each Wing.

2. The invention according to claim 1 further comprising an elongated flexible member transversely spanning and connected to an adjacent pair of said rods between adjacent pairs of stop members, for suspending a hook projecting from said tie.

3. The invention according to claim 1 in which said means for supporting said base comprises a pair of substantially parallel upright members spaced apart less than the length of said base, a flexible finger for each upright member, means mounting each finger at its lower end substantially transversely of each other on said corresponding upright member, so that said fingers extend upwardly and spaced sutliciently close to said corresponding upright member to receive and snugly grip said base against said upright members, means supporting said upright members in spaced apart relationship and means for suspending said upright members from a vertical support surface.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 120,879 6/1940 Drake 211- X 396,756 1/ 1889 Miles 248219 2,007,636 7/1935 Brothers r 21187 2,165,814 7/1939 Redmond 211--123 X 2,733,492 2/1956 Copell 248-316 X 2,824,650 2/1958 Conklin et al. 21187 X 2,860,788 11/1958 Hardrnan 248-309 X 3,168,197 2/1965 Sconza 211-13 ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner. 

